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Honorary Member: Dra. Julieta Fierro Gossman

Dra. Julieta Fierro, "the Carl Sagan of Mexico", is a professor, Institute of Astronomy, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), and one of the world's foremost communicators of astronomy. Her graduate degree was in astronomy, and she teaches regularly at UNAM, and has carried out research on interstellar matter. Her contributions to Spanish-language science education and outreach are prodigious – over 40 books, directorship of a major science centre Universum in Mexico City (and consultant to other science centres), numerous radio and TV series, programs and appearances, and countless public lectures, including one to 100,000 schoolchildren in a stadium! She works extensively with schoolteachers and students, giving workshops, developing resources, and writing books and articles for young people. She is constantly innovating; most recently, she has collaborated with a dance company to present astronomy through that medium. Her public presentations are legendary – highly kinetic and engaging. But unlike some public figures, she radiates a warm and generous personality. She has served nationally as President of the Mexican Academy of Professors of Natural Science, and the Mexican Society of Science Museums, and internationally as President of the International Astronomical Union's Commission on Astronomy Education and Development. Her many national and international awards include honorary doctorates, the Klumpke-Roberts Prize of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the prestigious UNESCO Kalinga Prize for promoting public understanding of science, and membership in Mexico's Academia de la Lengua -- an honour usually reserved for scholars in the humanities.